Who's your favourite hobbit...

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

...and why?

This one is especially for Eomer of the Rohirrim. Let's find out who the greatest hobbit was, and why.

[Bêthberry]

And just where is Rosie Cotton? "They also serve, who only stand and wait." Well, not that she was standing all the time, but certainly she contributed.

[Firefoot]

Frodo.

Frodo has always been my favorite hobbit (character!). I immediately latched onto Frodo when I first read LotR, and further readings, thoughts, analyses, discussions, etc. have only served to confirm that. His actions and choices have always intrigued me.

And his name is cool.

[davem]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

And just where is Rosie Cotton? "They also serve, who only stand and wait." Well, not that she was standing all the time, but certainly she contributed.

Or Lobelia????

Sorry, Fordim - another abject failure, poll-wise

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

Originally Posted by davem

Or Lobelia????

Sorry, Fordim - another abject failure, poll-wise

At least I'm out there, trying my best to solve these thorny issues by getting some good hard polling data! back at you.

[piosenniel]

I'm voting for Fatty Bolger.



~*~ Pio

[Estelyn Telcontar]

*Esty raises a hand for poor, forgotten Folco Boffin...

[Mithalwen]

Used to be Merry, but I admire Sam in many ways...

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I'm going to have to think long and hard about this.

Thanks Fordim!

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

It's Merry because I took a minute to imagine myself hanging out with each hobbit listed one by one.

Frodo: I will take the Ring to Mordor.
Me: And I was proud of myself for graduating high school... he saved the world. Immediately makes me feel life I've done nothing of import, self-esteem plummets. He's great and all, but his level is unobtainable for me and I'm not sure I'm a big enough person to "like him as a person" despite it.

Pippen: *splashes water all over the floor*
Me: Please tell me you plan on cleaning that up. Though I like him a lot, his energy and immaturity (pre-ending) would annoy me in RL.

Bilbo: I'm not sure... he reminds me too much of my grandfather (in a good way), but that means that I respect him more than I "like" him.

Sam: Too selfless, much like Frodo.

Merry: He just seems so normal. He's very clever (getting Sam to spy, friends with Maggot, etc), very brave (Witch King), very loving (Theoden, Frodo), and has a sense of humor. He's accomplished, smart, but he's just a normal guy, and that's cool.

I'd have preferred the Gaffer, but I'll just blame Fordim for that one.

[mark12_30]

It is rumored that the nine are abroad disguised as wights in black. The great pug, lidless and wreathed in flame, sees all... while nearby, Mount Fordie is wreathed in smoke and ash.

Time is short, yet there is still hope.

[Lalwendë]

Do I really need to answer this one?

Bilbo is the best. He is the Ultimate Hobbit. Vote for Bilbo!

He should be your candidate because he displays all the traits that a good Hobbit ought to. He is an accomplished pipeweed smoker, and he has a fine wine cellar. He lives in one of the most outstanding Smials ever constructed. He has a keenly honed appreciation of cake, and what's more, he even shares it with pesky Dwarves who come to visit uninvited! Yes, he does not really want to share his cake (and who would?), he even has palpitations at the thought that it might all get eaten up! But he shares it nevertheless, and as we know, he pulls out all the stops when it comes to throwing a party!

But Bilbo is no mere socialite. No, he is also a fine poet, and a cartographer. He is an adventurer! But not one of these bores who spends his whole life travelling, no. Bilbo has the decency to come home and show everyone the slides, for years and years, so we all get to see Mountains!

And finally, it was Bilbo's keen wit which saw him escape with the Ring, and had he not done so, then we would all be voting for our favourite Orc...

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

And that would be Grishnak. His name is simply the most entertaining to say several times in a row.

[the guy who be short]

He just seems so normal. He's very clever (getting Sam to spy, friends with Maggot, etc), very brave (Witch King), very loving (Theoden, Frodo), and has a sense of humor. He's accomplished, smart

That's normal? You must live in some sort of Utopia...

As for myself, I have yet to vote. Difficult choice. I'm tempted to say Lobelia, she's so endearing at the end of LotR. But out of the five listed... hmm.

I'd say Bilbo in his youth in the Hobbit. He was witty, he was sociable, he was fun, he was brave. Yes, the other hobbits accomplished import tasks... but where's the wit? Where's the humour? One or two jokes are hardly comparable to Bilbo's account of his tales.

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by the guy who be short

That's normal? You must live in some sort of Utopia...

You betcha. Merry's still the best. He kind of reminds me of a flight attendant.

Perhaps I should have used "well-rounded" in place of normal.

[Imladris]

Bilbo:

Competent, fun, just...an endearing little guy. And not afraid to do what needs to be done (ie, stealing the Arkenstone). He's a good deal more relatable than the other hobbits on the list (excluding Pippin and Merry, of course). He also went on grand adventures and wrote about them...which is very important to me for some odd reason...

Of course, it could just be because I prefer to The Hobbit to LotR...hmm.

[Elennar Starfire]

Pippin. I love his sense of humour. He's like my friends at two in the morning, but all the time! (for an example of my friends at two in the morning, look at my sigg.)

Pippin has always been my favourite, but since seeing the movies I love him even more. Who can resist that accent? He's just so cute! (I'm saying that in an 'aww, cuddly' sort of way, not fangirlish.)

[Formendacil]

I cannot take this poll at this time. Until such time as it includes each and every hobbit listed in the Lord of the Rings- down to and including each and every member of the Family Trees, it would be discriminatory of me to vote.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

I picked Merry because I think he has just the right mix of everything about the others.

I think I myself, character-wise, lean slightly more towards Frodo, and that's why I need Merry to balance me. He would be the perfect friend.

[Bêthberry]

Okay, I knuckled down and limited myself to Fordim's Few as choices. Bilbo it is. Mainly for the humour. Senility is a funny fate, isn't it? Plus he's the writer, although of course there is Herblore of the Shire.

[Lalwendë]

Plus, the other really cool thing about Bilbo is that he has had a song written about him, the refrain declaring that he was "the greatest Hobbit of them all" (or something like that...I must confess I wasn't listening all that closely...). This also gave us all the opportunity to watch Leonard Nimmoy making a fool of himself in a psychedelic fashion!

It's been pointed out to me today that there is another rather important Hobbit we are forgetting, and that is Gollum... Maybe he could be a choice for a poll on who's your favourite baddie? Though I should find it hard to decide on that choice.

[mark12_30]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Plus he's the writer, although of course there is Herblore of the Shire.

..... "The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings and the Return of the King" doesn't count as writing...?

[mark12_30]

Fave diplomat: either Bilbo (for the Arkenstone Gambit) or Frodo (at Faramir's council.).
Fave writer: either Bilbo or Frodo. Okay, Frodo.
Fave dreamer: Frodo.
Favorite humorist: Merry or Frodo, although sometimes Sam, and often Bilbo.
Favorite songwriter: Sam.
Favorite mischief-maker: Merry, for spying on Bilbo & reading his book.
Favorite thief: Frodo (& Farmer Maggot's mushrooms. Sorry, Bilbo, but passion rules over pay on this one.)
Favorite cook: Frodo (he must have made some interesting things with all those stolen mushrooms. Sorry, Bilbo, cold chicken and pickles never did it for me. Nor fish and chips, Sam.)
Favorite philosopher: Hmmmmm. Merry is no twit, but he's a hobbit of action and not much on words. Sam's wisdom is earthy and practical; Frodo gets a bit melancholy at times. Bilbo's thoughts are more like Sam's, short and to the point.

I think what I'm learning is that my LEAST favorite hobbit is Pippin.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by mark12_30

..... "The Downfall of the Lord of the Rings and the Return of the King" doesn't count as writing...?

'Tis but a translation, Helen.

[mark12_30]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

'Tis but a translation, Helen.

Tsk, Bethberry. Bilbo wrote "There and Back Again", but translated the Sil ("Translations from the Elvish") while Frodo was the original author of the entire 'trilogy" except for Sam's Epilogue.

[Lalaith]

He kind of reminds me of a flight attendant

What are you saying, Feanor?

Merry for me, too. Cheerful (yet not overly so, master peregrin take note), practical and brave. Lordly, I call it, meaning nothing but good.

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by mark12_30

Tsk, Bethberry. Bilbo wrote "There and Back Again", but translated the Sil ("Translations from the Elvish") while Frodo was the original author of the entire 'trilogy" except for Sam's Epilogue.

Oh, gosh. And Appendix F, "On Translation"? I wasn't aware that Frodo, who sailed away early in the Fourth Age, knew the seventh age language, English.

I do love the way the elves tease Bilbo about his writing. It is wise to have some distance on the act of writing. See 'Mainly for the humour" in previous post.

[mark12_30]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Oh, gosh. And Appendix F, "On Translation"? I wasn't aware that Frodo, who sailed away early in the Fourth Age, knew the seventh age language, English.

Come on, you KNOW who was credited for the appendices. My leg's getting sore, you can quit yanking on it now before you dislocate my hip.

I do like the elvish humor in The Hobbit better than I like the elvish humor in The Trilogy. Tra-La-La-Lally or bust, I say!

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Originally Posted by Lalaith

What are you saying, Feanor?

Cheerful, well-disposed, and always willing to help out.

[Kitanna]

How can there be such a poll and Fatty and Sam's old Gaffer are not included?

[The Only Real Estel]

The Gaffer has to be one of the best, but given my limited amount of choices I voted for Merry. Wait! I thought the dot next to the name Merry meant that if I clicked on it I'd be voting for Bilbo! Recount!

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by mark12_30

Come on, you KNOW who was credited for the appendices. My leg's getting sore, you can quit yanking on it now before you dislocate my hip.

I do like the elvish humor in The Hobbit better than I like the elvish humor in The Trilogy. Tra-La-La-Lally or bust, I say!

Well, not wishing to injure you, I would offer you a cane--so we both could go traipsing merrily along, pip pip and all that, to Rivendell--but I fear you would think I was attempting a caning.

I'm feeling the tug of admiration and deep respect for Sam and maybe some guilt for being swayed by humour instead of integrity. That devotion and faithfulness has got to count for something. Besides, we could talk gardening together.

I think my vote was marred by a dangling chad. Is a second ballot possible without all the Supreme Court bother?

[Durelin]

Where be good ol' Lotho, and fair Lobelia?

[mormegil]

Has to be Sam hi unintentional humor gets me everytime. He's oh so devoted to Frodo and the quest. He's simple and loves the simple. I complicate myself too much so he reminds me of the truly important things.

Most importantly he's not a senile old coot *coughbilbocough*

[Lhunardawen]

Merry's the perfect partner in crime. Without him, my avatar would not have existed. Besides, Merry's name is just...Merry. It's fun to say. You can almost smile while saying his name. Try it.

Me-rry.

See?

[Holbytlass]

Pippin: too irresponsible, "I have 5 kids and my husband's the oldest!"
Merry: too worldly, always taking off on "business" trips especially with Eowyn.
Sam: decent enough, but always pining away for Frodo
Bilbo: too old, although if one had a mind for "sugar-daddies"
Frodo: that unattainable tragic-hero

FRODO it is!!

[the guy who be short]

Originally Posted by morm

Most importantly [Sam]'s not a senile old coot *coughbilbocough*

Grr...

Bilbo wasn't always a coot you know. He was young for far longer than the average person (or hobbit)! And Sam probably went senile too... yeah... and did he get to the Und(r)ying Lands? No, didn't think so.

Conclusion: Bilbo Adventurer>Samwise Halfwit

[Holbytlass]

Originally Posted by the guy who be short

Grr...

Bilbo wasn't always a coot you know. He was young for far longer than the average person (or hobbit)! And Sam probably went senile too... yeah... and did he get to the Und(r)ying Lands? No, didn't think so.

Conclusion: Bilbo Adventurer>Samwise Halfwit

Actually, Sam did go, after the death of Rosie, it's in the appendices.

[HerenIstarion]

Originally Posted by piosenniel

I'm voting for Fatty Bolger.



~*~ Pio

My feelings exactly!

Fordim, you are good at polls, but they are always almost perfect! Meaning, where is Fatty (my favourite, as we are so much alike), where is Lobelia? Where are numerous Brockhouses, not to mention Proudfoots/feet?!

Given the current poll, though, I cast my vote on Sam for his loyalty and his hope beyond hope which came true. I wish I could be that steadfast.

[mormegil]

Originally Posted by the guy who be short

Grr...

Bilbo wasn't always a coot you know. He was young for far longer than the average person (or hobbit)! And Sam probably went senile too... yeah... and did he get to the Und(r)ying Lands? No, didn't think so.

Conclusion: Bilbo Adventurer>Samwise Halfwit

He can't even think of a respectable riddle. I mean what kind of question is "what have I got in my pockets?"? Then he lies to Gandalf. So he's not a good thinker and he's a liar...oh ya a thief too. Withholding the Arkenstone from poor Thorin. Thorin's only desire is to have it and Bilbo holds it back from him. That's almost the greatest tragedy Tolkien wrote you know.